DRC article on Lama

GrandGreen · June 13, 2006

Tennis: Lama heads UNT tennis program

08:16 AM CDT on Tuesday, June 13, 2006

By Brett Vito / Staff Writer

After eight successful years at Illinois, Sujay Lama felt like he was ready for a new challenge in his career as a women’s tennis coach, not to mention a move to a warmer climate.

Lama found both on Sunday when he agreed to become the head women’s coach at North Texas, a school he believes has the potential to become a national power.

“There is no doubt North Texas can have a nationally ranked women’s tennis program,” Lama said. “We want to do it the right way and build the program.”

Lama said it will take some time, but he believes he can have a Mean Green team that went 6-18 last season among the top 75 teams in the country within four to six years.

Lama resigned his position at Illinois on May 5 after compiling a 108-84 dual match record in part because he wanted to move to the South. Lama is a native of Nepal and said his family never adapted to the cold weather in Illinois.

Lama’s experience at Illinois and his belief in the potential of UNT’s program were part of the reason Mean Green athletic director Rick Villarreal hired him out of a pool of what he described as highly qualified candidates.

“Sujay has done a great job as a coach at the Division I level and has shown an ability to recruit and develop players,” Villarreal said. “His connections in tennis will help us with scheduling and improving our program.”

UNT invested heavily in women’s tennis by building the Waranch Tennis Pavilion, a $3 million, 12-court facility that opened last season. The facility and the commitment it showed to the program were two reasons Lama was interested in UNT.

“The No. 1 reason I was interested in the job was Rick,” Lama said. “He has this amazing energy and passion for the university. He has taken the athletic program a long way in five years and has a vision for the department. The tennis center is also great and Denton is a good location. The program is a sleeping giant. We can do wonderful things there.”

Lama plans to build his team beginning with the players already in the program.

“My job is to make sure that I earn the trust and respect of the players and use them as the foundation for our program,” Lama said. “I want them to buy into the system and help make them the best they can be.”

Lama said his recruiting efforts will begin in the talent rich state of Texas and will expand from there much like his career in tennis did.

Lama grew up in Nepal, was ranked among the top 50 junior players in the world and qualified for Wimbledon before an injury prevented him from playing in the event.

The injury caused Lama to reconsider his professional future and head into coaching. Lama eventually came to the U.S. and coached professional players, including Amanda Coetzer, before starting a career as a college coach. That path took Lama to Florida as an assistant, Illinois as a head coach and now UNT.

“I love college tennis and college athletics,” Lama said. “That’s my passion. I like to be around college athletes I can mentor.”

BRETT VITO can be reached at 940-566-6870. His e-mail address is bvito@dentonrc.com.

Green92 · June 13, 2006

Lama resigned his position at Illinois on May 5 after compiling a 108-84 dual match record in part because he wanted to move to the South. Lama is a native of Nepal and said his family never adapted to the cold weather in Illinois.

I would think Illinois would be tropical compared to Nepal.

Harry · June 13, 2006

I really like this hire. Good job.

untbowler · June 13, 2006

Tennis: Lama heads UNT tennis program

“There is no doubt North Texas can have a nationally ranked women’s tennis program,” Lama said. “We want to do it the right way and build the program.”
Lama plans to build his team beginning with the players already in the program.
Lama said his recruiting efforts will begin in the talent rich state of Texas and will expand from there much like his career in tennis did.
“I love college tennis and college athletics,” Lama said. “That’s my passion. I like to be around college athletes I can mentor.”
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Harry is correct this is a great hire, hopefully they will post the hiring on the website soon .

Unfortunately he might have an uphill battle with only a few players left. Not sure if correct I have heard of one player being signed prior to his arrival and if so not a strong signing.

Hopefully he can bring the team together and get a few recruits in, then produce some great results hopefully sooner than 4-6 years.

As for Texas yes it has some players but the best players in the state will go to A&M, UT, TCU, or SMU leaving scraps for the rest.

Open up the doors and left him recruit.

Edited June 13, 2006 by untbowler